to God and his glory for we do by pride most immediately contest with God God will have the crown upon his head Pride saith the crown must be upon mine God saith I will have my will Pride saith I will have mine Now a Saint that is acquainted with the rules and laws of self-humiliation learns to abhor this pride for it is so opposite to God it is said therefore God is most opposite to pride in the 1. Peter 5. 5. The ' Lord resisteth the proud he doth lead forth an army as it were march forth in the head of an Army against proud persons they are so directly opposing him But then secondly Pride is most opposite to the life of Faith which is the Gospel of life Faith is the Gospel-grace you shall see this in the 2. Hab. 3 4. a most excellent place that will shew you what an opposition there is betwixt Pride and betwixt Faith The Vision is yet for an appointed time but in the end it shall speak and not ly though it tarry wait for it because it will surely come it will not tarry Now Pride saith I will not stay Gods leasure I have staid a great while and I will wait no longer what is this Behold in the 4. verse his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him but the just shall live by his faith A proud soul that is not upright but the just there is the opposition he shall live by his faith that will be conâ—ent humbly to wait upon God and say Lord thy time is best I will stay thy leasure I have no will of my own no end of my own I will be at thy disposing come when thou pleasest I know thy word will be made good Now an humble Saint knowing this that Pride is so opposite he will speak modestly and there are two Cases wherein he learns to be very modest so far as he acts his Saintship When he comes to speak of himself there he watches over himself for Pride and Vain-glory would step in and a man would speak of himself it may be tell stories of Gods providenco but the close shall be wound up with somthing of self God hath shewn those and those great mercies to me and it is not so much to set up God as to set up my self this is the temper of a carnall heart When he comes to reprove others he is very modest who knows much of God he will not do it out of passion but with compassion shewing all meeknesse to men Tit. 3. 2. O therefore let us every day at the throne of grace put in Caveats against pride and let us preserve a godly vigilancy over our selves against Pride which is the most naturall weed to our corrupt spirits and springs up most plentifully in the soyl of our carnall hearts let us watch against it Gods dear servants have been overtaken with it Jonah though a holy man of God for the main yet sometimes he discovers himself to be both a proud and pettish Prophet the Lord will send him of a message and to preach this Doctrine Yet forty dayes and Nineveh shall be overthrown He thought that God would not be so gracious to them therefore he runs away and when he saw that the Lord was gracious not knowing vvhat an intention God had the holy reservation he had not being expressed yet forty dayes and Nineveh shall be overthrown unlesse they do repent for God is not bound neither doth he alvvayes reveal every part of his vvill vvhat he saith is true yet he doth not alvvayes speak out When Jonah savv that the people of Nineveh did convert to God at least externally humble themselves in sackeloth and ashes and vvere like to obtain mercy at least a reprievement as to the execution of the judgement Jonah preferred his credit before the word of God that he was rather angry that his own word vvas not made good then God should shevv mercy to a whole city vvhat a pettish disposition here vvas you and I are of the same constitution the Lord make us more circumspect in maintaining a guard about our hearts There is good reason therefore why Paul should advise pray take notice of it in the 1. Tim. 3. that a Bishop he would have he must be blamelesse in the 2d verse c. but in the 6. verse not a Novice not one that is newly sprung up a young plant newly converted to the Faith newly planted as it were in Christ why left being lifted up with Pride lifted up with Pride why so Of all generations of people in the world there is none more apt to be proud then young Converts O they will presently despise others if they be not as high as themselves and come on as far as they are and up to their principles and if you adde this further A young Convert and a young Minister especially if he be well gifted is more apt to be proud I speak it not so much to disparage those as to engage them to Vigilancy over their own hearts not a Novice lest he should be proud in that he is a Minister O he hath gifts though a young man yet able to teach a whole Congregation to come off it may be with applause here he swâ—lls here he admires himself and falls into the condemnation of the Devil it seems that was Pride and that judgement that he fell into was for Pride that was the Devils sin The Devil would equalize himself with God is Peter Lombards expression and they who understand the Originall will finde that there is something different from what is I humbly conceive ordinarily comprehended in the 6. verse of the Epistle of Jude And the Angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation But left their own habitation here is the sin still of the Angels what was this they would not be contented to stay in that place where God set them nor to keep their station kept not their first estate but left their own habitation both the expressions make fully up the sin of the Angels and not the judgement as some expositours do conceive they would be gadding abroad and were more curious and inquisitive then God would allow them to be and so you have in the 2. Peter 2. 4. For if God spared not the Angels that sinned but curst them down to hell but reserved them in chains Sinned there was there fault as is expressed here kept not theirfirst estate he hath reserved them in chains there is their judgement I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell God knowes such a one caught up to the third heaven such a one caught up he was snatched up Sometimes God doth surprize his servants with most glorious and gracious discoveries he was caught up into Paradice
answer she will not take it she had learned to distinguish between delayes and denials and at last when that Jesus Christ you shall find in the place saith this to her the Son of man was not sent but to the lost sheep of Israel we must not give childrens bread to dogs Lord if I may not have a childs portion yet let me have a dogs portion let me have some crums of mercy let me pick up some thing from under thy table something thatfals from thee O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt Here is a great deal of faith appears in importunity and you shall find as I remember in the 5. of Luke I am sure it is in Luke there they were so importunate when such an one was sick and troubled they would untile the house and let down his bodie that Jesus Christ might cure him and heal him here was importunity It is said of King Edward the sixth that good Josiah when he that taught him Sir Jno Cheek a man of great account in his time a very learned man was sick he went to visit him and told him saith he Come be not discouraged I have been begging you of God and he hath assured me you shall not die of this sicknesse and it proved so here was an admirable copie of a young King There was another before him Elfredus King of England too much it seems in prayer He divided the 24. hours into three parts one eight houres he allowed for his ordinary repast refreshing and sleeping another eight houres for publick negotiations and affairs of the Kingdome and a third for reading and praying this was admirable in those dark times I have read almost the same of M. Estie a learned and godly Minister somtimes Fellow of Caius Colledge And so I might have told you of King Edward the sixth that when he was crowned they put then one sword into one hand and another into another one for England and another for Ireland saith he there must be a third sword or else all will not do and that must be the word of God the sword of the Spirit that must teach me what to do O what copies were here from a Kings Regis ad exemplum totus componitur Orbis I wish the example of so great a person may have a great influence upon you For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me and he said unto me My grace is sufficient for thee God hath many wayes of answering our prayers First His Attributes his Providence his Promise his Son interceeding in heaven are all engaged to make good what his Spirit breaks forth in us so that importunate prayer shall not miscarry Why God will never be behind hand but rather before hand with his servants when they are a praying people he will be a God hearing praiers and therefore upon that ground encouraged them to come and pray O thou that art a God hearing prayers it is his continuall work so the word in the Originall wil bear to thee shall all flesh come An admirable place Psalme 90. 14 15 16. Doth God alwayes answer his peoples prayers Yes some way or other 1 Sometimes in the very particular mercy as to Hannah in Samuel 2 Sometimes by the commutation of a greater good As a child would fain have such a knife no you shall not have it but you shall have a better thing and it may be the Mother will give it a piece of gold that is better Thus he doth answer prayers by way Eminency a high degree 3 Though he doth not give the thing we desire yet he gives us hearts to be content without it it may be God denies you children you beg for children God will not give you children but he gives you hearts to be calm and patient without such a blessing there is an admirable mercy and possibly as to thee as the thing desired as great a mercy according to that hint in Phil. 4. v. 5. In nothing be carefull let your requests be made known to God with thanksgiving what followes the peace of God which passes understanding shall guard your hearts God it may be will not give you the thing but you shall have a sweet serenitie and calmnesse of spirit which is as sweet and so it is with many thousands of souls it may be you have experience of it when you come from Prayer you shall not alwayes have the thing you desired but God hath given thee a sweet perswasion of soul to rest fiducially to commit thy self to him It may be as Pauls case here God will answer your prayers by giving you the ground of your prayers Moses would have seen the land of Canaan by going into it he shall not go thither but God will before he dies carry him up to Mount Nebo and thence he shall see it before he dies there is the ground of his prayer granted So you desire health that you may honour God thereby It may be God will give not thee health but he will enable thee to glorifie him by faith and patience under sicknesse here are thy praiers answered because thou hast the ground and end of thy prayers Paul saith here Lord let this thorn be taken from me saith God my grace is sufficient for thee it shall not be taken away but in effect virtually interpretativè as to him it shall equivalentlie my grace is sufficient for thee though I take not away thy enemy yet I will give thee a buckler and then all will be well O what saith Paul would you and I were able to end this discourse with Pauls words and Pauls Spirit Most gladlie therefore saith he will I rather glorie in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me The spirit of a Saint inclines him to glory in that which glorifies Christ though he himself be debased Hence Paul here glories in his infirmities and takes pleasure in them that Christs strength may approve in his weaknesse and that the power of Christ {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} may dwell upon him and compose him about as a Tent doth and therefore will be visible to the honour of Christ What is it properly to Glory It imports three things 1. To rejoyce in a thing 2 To expresse that joy outwardly 3. And that with a degree of exaltation and boasting As Jer. 9. 23 24 Let not the wise man glory in his wisdome nor the rich man in his riches c. Why so much desired by Paul that the power of Christ may dwell upon him though with his own abasement The glorious discovery of his power of his powerfull grace is very desireable hence he prayes that the spirit of Revelation would open their eyes to see the exceeding greatnesse of his power in believers and 2. Thess. 1. 11. he
be true we cannot tell saith he but the more the better this is Austins answer the more the better the greater variety of readings and a greater commendation it is to Scripture because though there be some vaiety of readings in regard of particular words yet you shall find all those readings agree in the substantialls it is a great commendation now and my brethren Scripture is not so much the words as the sense and if the sense be the same as to the fundament all points in all places the multitude of various readings is no disparagement for it is rather indeed a wonder that it is so well and a marvellous work of providence that a Bible running through so many hands writing first and then printing and now so many hundreds above thousands of years together divers thousands as you know a great part of the old Testament was that there should be no more mistakes an admirable work of providence But then I will ad'e this further Many of those mistakes that are it is an easie matter to reconcile them I confesse it is not very obvious to all but learned men that are Antiquaries and Criticks and are able to consult with books and have seen ancient Copies c. they are prepared to reconcile As there is a difference now in Mark and John concerning the times there about Christs suffering one saith the third hour and another saith the sixth how shall we reconcile them learned men have seen ancient Copies where they are both the same an ancient Copy of the 19. of John naming the third hour We have a place in the 27 of Matthew 5. where it is said there as I take it the Prophet Jeremy if you please to turn to the 27. Chapter or look it at your leasure at the 9. verse then was that fullfilled that that was spoken by Jeremias the Prophet some tell us Jeremiah and Zachary written contractively in the Hebrew are the same and some say among the Hebrews and others say Zachary was Jeremiahs scholar and therefore called by that name but here is a short answer salves all I can tell a man that hath seen a Copy six hundred years old where there was neither Jeremy nor Zachary in but the Prophet there is a short and full answer There is another place in the 1. Corinthians it is very considerable and the 15. there saith Paul I protest by your rejoycing that we die daily some reade it I protest by our rejoycing in the 31. verse {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} or {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} it is not I on all the learned men I dare say in this assembly or in any other can possibly determine whether is were to be read ours or yours whether our rejoycing or your rejoycing because they are both a truth yet I could tell you what is answered learned Criticks give this answer that the ancient Greeks did pronounce the Eta and the Upsilon much alike and then when a copie came to be transcribed he that did write did not look upon the copie but heard one dictate and read to him now they did pronounce Eta like Upsilon and so the mistake might be easie he that writ could not well tell whether he said {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} or {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} they being alike in the pronunciation and upon this very ground might be the mistake now many such places I might name Do not thou decline the word of God and flie to Revelations know thou there is and do thou carefully maintain that sweet harmony that is between the word of God and the Spirit of Revelation and if the sauie Spirit that did endite the word do speak in thy mind and work in thy heart then indeed thou hast a great deal of cause to rejoyce and then thou mayest safely go on but cursed will they be in their practises that do divide those things separate them that God hath conjoyned together word and spirit do not thou advance Spirit to the dsparagement of the word make use of the word in a concurrence with the light of the Spirit and improve the Spirit for a more full discovery of the word I much hasten Lest I should be exalted through an abundance of Revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh least I should be exalted The Lord is most carefull to suppresse to hinder the thriving of his people in any sinfull course therefore saith he lest I should be exalted through the abundance of revelations he gives him a thorn lest I should be exalted above measure why so willthe Lord hinder it thus He knows that we are naturally prone to corrupt even the best things and this the nature of Pride whereas all other evills rise out of evill Pride springs out of the ashes of good and whereas we should glorifie God with our good things we do engrosse those good things to our own glory and so most sacrilegiously rob God The Lord knows this and therefore in such cases will be most carefull to hinder us from undoing our selves he loves us so dearly even as a father loves a child if he sees the knife though it be a very good thing and very usefull will cut the childs fingers he will take away the knife from the child though the child cries after it if the Wife come to love the servant once better then her Husband though he is a most usefull servant an excellent steward an admirable secretary a very good and dexterous and faithfull Bayliffe yet because he gets into the husbands place and hath that room in his wives affections that is peculiar to him and she begins to be disloyall towards him he will turn his servant out of doores why because he will not have his Wife to be undone nor suffer his own glory to be eclipsed Therefore let us humbly kisse Gods rod and listen what language it speaks and he who hath appointed it even when he smites know this to your comfort he can smile upon us and when other men think the sentence of death is passed upon us it may be he is then enlightning of us when others think he is marring and undoing of us he is making and doing us most good when others think by humbling providences he is blasting us then he is raising us and preparing us for great mercies O how good a God have we Take us in the very worst in the lowest condition of our Christianity in the blackest and bitterest part of it when we suffer even then God is dealing like a wise Physitian even giving us recovering or preventing Physick and hence it is that the Apostle saith the God of all grace who hath called you to eternall glory make you perfect after you have suffered a while make you perfect strengthen stablish settle you there is no lesse then four words as if he should
have said Never expect though you be called to oternall glory never expect that he that is a God of grace should make you perfect till you have suffered a while never think thou art undone though the world say thou art undone though God himself afflict thee never so severelie and whip thee with a smarting rod as here Paul had a thorn in the flesh because thou hast to deal with that God that loves thee more wisely better then thou canst love thy self that knows what is proper and good for thee more then thou knowest what is good for thy self he pitties thee he loves thee even as a father pitties his children Nothing more unhappie then the happinesse of those that go on in a sinfull course and the greatest temptation of all sometimes is to have no temptation when God shall rather lay the reyns upon our necks and leave us to our selves it is a signe he is angry with us and when he would undo a man indeed eternallie then gives him up to himself and leaves him to himself in the 81. Psal. 11. 12. you would have none of me you would not heare my voice I will give you up to your own hearts lusts and walk after your own counsels Self shall take you and lead you you would not be guided by me but when God loves a man then he will nip him and chide him for his sinfull courses There was given me a a thorn in the flesh b the messenger of c Sathan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure Somtimes it costs Saints very dear to have sins prevented why Because they are so desperately inclined unto those sins and those sins so highly provoking unto God so contrary to the method of his proceedings to his glory to his Son and his kingdome to his Spirits if they being rooted so in these things it must cost them a whipping as it is with a scholler he may be ingenuous and a good scholler but if he be habitually radicated in some wicked course if the master loves him he will whip him and whip him again and again till he do reduce him and reclaim him What whip was this here that drew bloud from him a thorn in the flesh of this Expositours have severall interpretations some will have it to be the lust of uncleannesse that is not probable some will have it to be his originall corruption set on by the devill that seems more probable but there is a thorn given in the flesh therefore it must be somthing that God gives given in the flesh the messenger of Sathan to buffet me very learned men resolve upon this that Paul was reproached much by the false Apostles he was disparaged a man of mean presence as they conceived and it may be he had some imperfection in his speech somthing or other they did cast upon him to cloud him and as if he did live upon the people and rob them of their estates c. Now when the devill shall be let loose upon him with a new commission O here was a thorn indeed a thorn in his sides indeed the word is very emphaticall I cannot stay long upon it now here was that that the false Apostles came and buffeted him you Paul have undone the people and misled them c. they came as messengers of Sathan and God might give them a commission as he doth to the devill and wicked men by way of holy and wise permission and this is a thorn in the flesh why in regard of the painfulnesse and reproachfulnesse of it As you desire to prevent great and sharp afflictions watch against great sins and when God doth great things for you take heed you be not guiltie of great wantonnesse and so provoke him to turn your light in to darknesse your health into sicknesse your plenty into poverty your peace into terrour and instead of a spirit of revelation and consolation and those sweet discoveries and abundance of revelations you had take heed you provoke not the Lord to send a messenger of Sathan to buffet you and to delude your comfort from you have a kind of hell in your consciences For this thing I besought the Lord thrice it might depart from me It is the spirit of a Saint when he is under affliction then to seek the Lord and to seek him with importunity why the reason is this There is a divine instinct it is not only a prudentiall instinct that carries him towards God he knows all his riches lies there and all his strength is treasured up in Jesus Christ he is able to do nothing without Christ and therefore he will run to the throne of grace and there appeal to God in Christ pour out his soul represent his desires act that excellent place Phil. 4. 6. In nothing be carefull but in all things make known your requests with thanksgiving A Saint that is indeed taught of God doth as naturally move towards heaven in his streights as a piece of iron that is touched with a load-stone towards the North you cannot dissever them somtimes he may be forced to neglect prayer in a morning or this time or that time but it may be it brings him down on his knees and drives forth tears afterwards and he is never quiet till he is got to him center again to his right point till he is come to his wonted communion with God O acquaint your selves more and more with the life of faith and act that life of faith in prayer for what is prayer but the breathing of faith when the poor soul comes and lies at the feet of God and there pants and breaths out earnest desires before him and know this for your comfort the Lord not onely delights to bestow blessings upon his servants but he delights to have fellowship with his servants in prayer O that we could eccho back again and go to the Lord not only to obtain such mercies from God by praying but to enjoy him in prayer this would be heaven indeed Besought him thrice here was his importunity A praying Saint that is acquainted with God will not be satisfied till he hears from God he knows there is an holy violence in unportunate Prayers which is well pleasing It is good to besiege heaven with such an importunity as rises up to an holy impudence it is most acceptable to him who desires to see the face and hear the voice of his beloved Let us be much in prayer O pray importunately not sluggishly not lazily not formally the Lord humble us for such defects such omission such commission such defilements of our holy duties remember that woman of Canaan how she prayed in the 15. of Matthew Son of David have mercy upon me my daughter is grievously vexed with a Devil and when they would have sent her away O still she prayed when Christ gave her a discouraging